VOA Reports on USC Engineering Interns from India

"Even though this program spans only two months, it has been seen that these students return to America for higher studies at the USC Viterbi Engineering School"

"To attract students from India, the University of Southern California invites a few students from IIT Kharagpur under the umbrella of a summer program to work on research projects with professors at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

To view the VOA story in its original Hindi, click on the image.

"At USC's Viterbi School of engineering, these students from IIT Kharagpur can be seen presenting their research projects. In fact, USC Viterbi of Engineering and IIT Kharagpur have instituted this summer program since 2004 wherein these students typically spend two months at USC Viterbi doing research.

"This year, 10 students have been selected for the program and one of the selected students is Sagar Chakravorti.

'My objective was drug discovery,' says Sagar, 'And in that we wanted to do research on selecting those molecules from all other molecules that can be used in drugs. My contribution was creating a system that helped in this drug discovery.'

"Professor of Chemical Engineering Noah Malmstadt who worked with IIT Kharagpur students for the very first time says, 'I was really delighted with my experience. You always hear about gifted and talented IIT students - everything we've heard turned out to be true.'

"Even though this program spans only two months, it has been seen that these students return to America for higher studies at the USC Viterbi Engineering School.

"Every year, thousands of Indian students come to the US for education - many of those are engineering students who specifically chose to study at USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Maybe that is why it is no surprise to hear from students like Sulabh who call USC Viterbi their home. 'I found it difficult to adjust initially,' says Sulabh, 'but our guide was very helpful and assisted us in getting settled in - finally now I feel like I'm at home.'

"Reporting for Voice of America, this is Manish Mirchandani and Neha Acharya, Los Angeles. If you would like to access this story at leisure, it can be found on our website www.voasamachar.com.

"You can also view America Live at this website. Please do not forget to send us your views about America Live at americalive@voanews.com."